30 years to the day since the original ride reportedly soft-opened, the infamous Nemesis rollercoaster is back at Alton Towers, as Nemesis Reborn.
The ride’s track and supports have been largely removed and rebuilt since it last operated back in November 2022.
At a then 28-and-a-bit years old, it was more than decade younger than the first major steel rollercoasters.
Allegedly, the ride faced being scrapped at the end of its life, and replaced with something new.
But the argument to rebuild Nemesis was won, largely by its original 1994 masterminds John Wardley and Nick Varney.
275-minute queue
Nemesis Reborn has seen Alton Towers sell out both days of its opening weekend. We are here on the Saturday.
The large numbers of people here today are of course largely made up of rollercoaster enthusiasts, among them the most intense admirers of the original Nemesis.
A huge amount of effort has been spent on sprucing up the image of Nemesis Reborn, as well as the wider Forbidden Valley area itself.
A huge queue soon builds that extends through and out of Forbidden Valley, into and out of Gloomy Wood, and reaching Katanga Canyon.
Alton Towers at one point estimated the queue time at 275 minutes, or just over four-and-a-half hours wait.
Nemesis’ original opening never saw that, such is the level of interest and great marketing this rebuild has seen.
Visually striking
As for the ride itself, sadly the distinctive roar has been reduced to a mere whimper of its former self, after the new track pieces were sand-filled to dampen sound levels.
But the new visual appearance is striking. The long-seen black track with the red, vein-like livery is all the more impressive in-person.
The newly-routed main queue line now extends around the back of the first drop, but the landscaping in this area is unusually barren and bland under the riders’ feet.
It was the last area sealed off after all crane lifts were completed, and hopefully there is intent to add something to this area in due course.
Elsewhere, pieces of old track are dotted around the queue line, which now offers impressive views of the ride in action.
Station centrepiece
At night, searchlights and atmospheric red lighting make for an impressive atmosphere around Nemesis Reborn.
The ride station has received major artistic attention, and the alien body has now gained a huge tail and longer arms.
But the most captivating aspect of the station is the giant animated eye of the Nemesis creature.
The story for Nemesis Reborn is that the alien has been experimented on by the Phalanx organisation, and has now re-emerged in a stronger, mutated form.
It is a reasonable attempt at a storyline, but the real triumph is in the execution: the large eye, with animatronic ‘eye lashes’, or claws, and dome-shaped screen to represent the eyeball.
The eye seems to respond according to the train’s movements. Indeed, during stoppages it seems to close in rest.
It continues Merlin Entertainments‘ good record for centrepiece theming objects.
Brilliant smoke effects bellow out adjacent to the eye as the trains enter the zero-g roll above the station.
Inside the station, there has been much talk of changes. They are noticeable and welcome, but are largely confined to sound effects and strip lighting.
Only afterwards is it clear that you were supposed to have been inside the creature.
Intensity remains
The front row queue has been removed, at least for the moment. Guests seem to be ushered down to other rows if they attempt to wait for the front.
As the train clears the lift hill, the 30-year, tried and tested model of building suspense and intensity remains as fine as ever.
The first inversion feels identical in speed and force to the original.
But the helix – now bolstered with additional support reinforcement – feels as impressively intense in the middle row as the back row did on the original ride.
It feels as intense entering the vertical loop as the original, but Reborn considerably slower through the top of the loop.
This of course gives a little more ‘hang-time’, but really it neither adds or takes away from the experience.
The turn and final inversion feel the same as the original ride: good, but at this point in the circuit somewhat out of steam compared to what came seconds before.
Around now there is considerable vibration in the middle row, but is apparently not felt as much – if at all – towards the front, and purportedly not at all on the other train.
Nemesis Reborn reclaims all of the original Nemesis’ trademark intensity, with some slight nuances around the vertical loop and latter-third vibration.
It loses something significant in its quieter, dampened sounds. But it both adds and enhances in its visual profile and excellent theming.
Now assured for another generation of riders, this world-class rollercoaster truly is “back with a vengeance”.